


Mistletoe

by leopardprintpants



Series: Operation: Matchmaking [5]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Christmas, College, F/M, Flashbacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-10-12 02:51:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10480482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leopardprintpants/pseuds/leopardprintpants
Summary: Reader tells the kids a story out in the snow, then reminisces by herself.





	

**Author's Note:**

> "We could never keep secrets from each other."

"We have to make this Christmas perfect this year since it'll be our first with (Y/n)! Oh, there'll be lots of food, presents, papercuts from wrapping presents--" Mabel interrupted herself with a gasp and a dreamy sigh, gloved hands on her warming cheeks. "--and mistletoe!"

Dipper chucked a snowball at his unsuspecting sister before rolling his eyes as she shrieked overdramatically, falling off of her fresh "snow bench" and onto her back. She giggled as snowflakes fell into her eyes.

"Mabel, no one here would skip out on Christmas with their family just to kiss you." He teased. The girl laughed, pointing at the mansion while pulling her hat back onto her head.

"Speak for yourself! I have Waddles to kiss!" She exclaimed proudly.

"What's this about kissing?" A feminine voice came from behind the two teens. They both turned to greet (Y/n), who was decked in coats and scarves. If one looked closely enough, they'd notice she also wore multiple pairs of gloves. A stack of wool hats somehow managed to stay on her head. The twins almost laughed at the sight.

"We're talking about mistletoe! By the way, what's with all the snow gear?" Mabel asked, Dipper chuckling at the amusing sight. The woman laughed, looking down at herself.

"I told him it looked ridiculous. Your grunkle Ford didn't want me going outside because of all this snow. I promised I wouldn't wander around like I wanted to, but when I said I was still coming out here to get some fresh air, the goof forced me to wear all of this." She explained, slowly making her way to the teens with all of the pants she wore.

"Well, that means he cares." Dipper shrugged, gathering more snow in his hands subconsciously. The woman laughed again, pausing in her steps.

"Of course. Now, enough about me; why in the world were you kids on the subject of mistletoe? You haven't kissed anyone yet, have you?" (Y/n) asked playfully.

"Well, yeah, one time." Mabel giggled as Dipper scoffed. "He was both of our first kiss!"

"Oh, yeah! Mermando, right? Stanford told me about a lot of your adventures a while ago." Before the twins could feel offended, the woman continued. "Always was an issue with me. We could never keep secrets from each other."

"Sounds like you two were close." The male teen stated, eyebrows raised in a knowing expression. His sister giggled and wiggled her own eyebrows suggestively. The woman scoffed in false-offense, weakly kicking up a bit of snow in their directions. They all laughed together for a few moments.

"Haha, we should get you two to kiss for the first time this Christmas! That would be the best present yet!" Mabel half-joked, a plan already forming in her mind.

"For the first time? Sorry to spoil your fruitcake, sweetie, but no." (Y/n) shook her head with a smile of nostalgia while kicking some snow into a pile.

The twins gasped so hard, snowflakes went into their throats. After a few coughs, they both sat on the snow bench and stared intently at (Y/n). The woman had seen this coming and plopped down ungracefully onto her snow pile.

"Alright, buckle up, kids. Now, most wouldn't believe this nowadays, but Fidds was quite the matchmaker back then..."

\----

_"Alright, alright, just one more, I promise!"_

_The male groaned half-heartedly at his companion's antics. The lady next to him took this as a sign of surrender and squealed happily._

_"Make it quick." Ford grumbled, although he couldn't kept the adoring smile off his face. (Y/n) didn't notice, only grabbing his arm to slow his pace a bit so they wouldn't reach the dorm door before she finished the joke._

_"Thanks you! Okay, okay--so a neutron walks into a bar. It orders a drink, then asks the bartender, 'how much do I owe you?' The bartender looks the neutron up and down and replies, 'for you, no charge'!"_

_The woman grins up at her laughing crush, who shakes his head as if trying to deny the humor in the joke, but to no avail._

_"J-Jeez, (Y/n)--that was so bad! Where'd did you even--" The man bursted out laughing again when his friend suddenly whipped out a book as small as her hand and as wide as a quantum physics textbook._

_"C'mon, Stanford! Don't get all negative on me!" (Y/n) laughed stupidly, showing the male a crude drawing of an atom with arrows pointing to the electrons._

_The two totally mature adult college students laughed their way down the hall to the boys' dorm, where, once again, both genders could share rooms as useless but friendly security guards roamed the premises._

_As if having heard the couple's rambunctious laughter (which, to be honest, was most likely the case), the door to their destination opened before they even arrived at it. A certain southern engineer's head peeked out of it, looking down the other direction before turning to theirs. The male's blue eyes then lit up with what seemed like mischief, but very soon flickered into warmth and friendliness._

_"Hey there, strangers!" McGucket called out, waving at the two still a meter or two away from the door. He earned a wave and a few greetings back, smiles on everyone's faces. "Come on in! I just gotta tend to this here ham for a moment!"_

_Ford and (Y/n) chuckled at each other again before Ford opened the door for her. The female grinned at him in thanks, thankfully turning her head away before she could see the massive blush spread across the man's face._

_This time, the woman was only part of the reason of Ford's flustered state. Right as she turned away, a single leaf fell just in front of his face, prompting him to cast a quick, confused glance to the doorway above him._

_Mistletoe._

_Before he could decide whether to mention this to either of his friends or not, a few words from (Y/n) caught his attention._

_"Hey, Fidds, you're home early."_

_Ford's eyes widened and the Sherlock in him put all the pieces together in milliseconds as his eyes widened._

_It was only around half-past six in the evening. Classes were cut short, but he was in the library with (Y/n) for almost half an hour before she came to visit for the first time in a week. There was a Christmas Eve event for the robotics team, which Fiddleford was a part of. That event went on from the end of classes to seven._

_Had Fiddleford really ditched an engineering meet-up to collect very real, very fresh mistletoe to string up in the doorway Ford and (Y/n) almost always entered together before using cooking as an excuse to be there ahead of time?_

_The man's calculating gaze traveled to the culprit himself, who stood near the oven, pulling off an oven glove as the female behind him secured foil around the steaming ham on the stove. When the two males locked eyes, Fiddleford only glanced up at the plant, shrugged, and looked away._

_..._

_Oh, that country boy was going to get his damn banjo beaten._

_Things only got worse for the couple from then on. McGucket would leave the kitchen right before (Y/n) would need assistance, leaving Ford to awkwardly sneak his way near his lady friend without looking up above them too often. There'd be a mistletoe by the sink and tableware cabinets, where Fidds knew the two would often help each other reach and carry things. Hell, there was even one hanging between the couple's usual seats at the table!_

_It wasn't until after dinner that Stanford managed to get the man into the kitchen alone, each carrying empty plates and bowls and utensils to take to the sink. They both kept in mind there was a mistletoe, going in at separate times. Fidds was trapped since Ford went under the plant when he was still in the kitchen._

_"What in the devil do you think you're doing?!" The brunette hissed, irritated as he rinsed an empty gravy boat. His irritation peaked when the engineer just shrugged with a mischievous chuckle._

_"Pardon me, Stanford, but I have no idea what you're talkin' about."_

_"You know darn well what I mean! Where did you even get the things anyway?!" Ford pointed at the mistletoe above the kitchen cabinets._

_"Bought 'em off a biology student. They were usin' 'em for a project." McGucket grinned._

_"Aha! So you admit it!" The man exclaimed. Just as McGucket was about to reply with a falsely clueless comeback, a female voice traveled throughout the kitchen._

_"Admit what?" (Y/n) asked, drawing the boys' attention to her as she leaned against the threshold. The men looked at each other nervously, Fiddleford not wanting his plan spoiled by his male friend and Stanford not wanting to get the woman angry at him for not telling her._

_"Ummm..." "Uh, you see-- I-- He--!"_

_The woman raised a brow at the men, her bemused gaze looking back and forth at the two sputtering idiots before finally scoffing and shaking her head._

_"Men..." She sighed quietly before picking up her voice. "I've finished putting the move in. Once you get most of the gunk off of the plates and everything, you're both free to join me."_

_The two men let out noises of agreement as the woman then turned and walked out of the kitchen. They both let out sighs of relief when she wasn't under the mistletoe anymore. If she had stayed, either one of them would have to stay and finish the dishes while the other went through the doorway with her._

_Fiddleford might've had to be the one to point it out since he's worked at the café more than her recently. Would he point it out? (Y/n) was pretty, sure, but he had his eye on someone else. Plus, he wanted her to be with Ford._

_If Ford went, however... well, the engineer definitely wouldn't mind doing the dishes if he pointed out the mistletoe and saw a kiss between the two._

_The next ten minutes were spent with the males quietly scrubbing tableware with sponges without soap. They'd fully wash them later; for now, they had a movie to get to._

_When they both had washed their hands, Fidds let the other male pass through the door first before following him at a safe distance. They then seated themselves on the floor in front of the television where (Y/n) already was. Well, Ford did._

_A low, impressed whistle came from the southern student, causing the other two to look back at him. Before either of them could respond, he pointed to the ceiling above them. Of course, the couple looked up at the same time._

_Ford's eyes widened. When the hell did Fiddleford manage to string that one up?! With a turn of his head, he realized the mistletoe previously above the door was missing from its spot._

_"Huh. Mistletoe." The woman next to him mused, seemingly not surprised at all. Without any hesitation, she turned her head and swiftly kissed Ford's cheek before he could even look at her._

_His face quickly turned as red as the mistletoe berries._

_He suddenly thanked Fiddleford for stringing those plants up._

_Unbeknownst to him, the engineer had a raised brow as he, too, looked from the doorway to the ceiling. He then grinned and chuckled to himself._

_'That there (Y/n) is one sneaky maiden.'_

\----

"Aw, what?" "Come on!"

The woman laughed at the kids, who threw a few snowballs at her, which collapsed in the air.

"No fair, (Y/n)! You said it was a kiss!" Mabel whined. The said woman laughed more.

"It was! A cheek kiss!"

"The doesn't count!" Dipper groaned, obviously disappointed.

"Hey, you kids should realize that wanting to see your grunkle smooch somebody has turned into an obsession." (Y/n) teased. "Besides, we were just really good friends back then. Don't expect any lovey-dovey couple mush."

"Hey! Kids!" Stanley's voice suddenly came from the house. The three of them looked over, seeing the man waving them in. "I'd let you kids play outside longer, but Sixer here doesn't want his girlfriend to get cold!"

An embarrassed "Stanley!" soon followed from inside the house. Everyone laughed, but (Y/n) also hoped everyone would think her blush was caused by the snow.

The teens had to help her up, seeing as she couldn't really bend her knees too much with all this fabric. As they all made their way back to the mansion, the woman's mind drifted to the event she wouldn't tell anyone about. If she did, she'd probably go on for hours...

\----

_"That was a decent movie!" (Y/n) exclaimed with a smile as she paused the end credits, turning to her two friends. "What did you guys think?"_

_"Goo charaker debelopmen," replied Stanford. The woman laughed and hit his shoulder softly._

_"Manners, Stanford." Fiddleford scolded lightly._

_"See, this is why we never give ya popcorn. You've got the manners of a toddler."_

_They trio joked and teased and laughed for another twenty minutes before McGucket suddenly yawned._

_"Oh, it's getting kind of late." (Y/n) realized, checking her watch. She and Ford stood up before helping Fiddleford stand. "You've been working a lot recently, Fidds. Why don't turn in a bit early?"_

_The man protested for a bit, although his eyelids were drooping closed every few seconds._

_"C'mon, Fiddleford, it's not like we'll stay up too late. You get to bed, we'll clean up and sleep right after you." Ford offered. McGucket only nodded and yawned again, letting out a sleepy "goodnight" before trudging to the bathroom._

_As the two heard the sink turn on, they got to work. (Y/n) took out the movie they'd borrowed from the public library and carefully placed it back into its case while her friend picked up his bowl and a few stray pieces of popcorn and kernels before putting everything away in the kitchen._

_Ford came out of the kitchen to find his crush spreading her sleeping bag over the dorm's loveseat and quickly rushed to his room to bring back the pillow with the softest case for her to use. In peaceful silence, they worked together, and soon the loveseat passed as an acceptable sleeping spot._

_He waited for her to unpack her toothbrush before leading the woman into the bathroom to brush their teeth together. At one point, his glasses fell into the sink and his friend choked on her toothpaste laughing as he hurriedly dried them off with his shirt._

_They playfully splashed faucet water at each other every once in a while, not caring that they'd have to explain the water streaks on the mirror to Fiddleford the next morning. When that was done, they went into Ford's room to chat since they weren't at all tired._

_"It's a real shame we weren't able to buy each other anything for Christmas." (Y/n) sighed after a few conversations. It was nearly midnight and the two students were getting sleepy and delirious, but they wouldn't tell the other that. Instead, they kept talking to stay awake._

_"I know... Us college students are pretty broke." Ford half-joked, earning a laugh from the girl who sat cross-legged across from him on the bed._

_"I know, right? We used a lot of money on the food... who can complain, though?"_

_"Right! Thanks for cooking dinner, by the way. Everything was really good." Ford thanked, placing a hand on here in appreciation. As always, the woman held her favorite pillow of his to her chest._

_"No problem! Thanks for helping me cook and clean up. Oh, wait!"_

_(Y/n) suddenly got up off the bed and ran quietly over to the living room, leaving a confused and mildly startled Ford alone in his bedroom. After a few moments of shuffling around in her bag, she quickly grabbed what she needed and rushed past Fiddleford's room stealthily. If he caught them awake, he'd scold them for half an hour and stay in the hallway until both of them fell asleep._

_Luckily, the woman entered Ford's room with no problem and shut the door as slowly as possible._

_"Ta-da!" She whispered, holding up three of those ribbons you'd stick onto presents. "Some of my friends had extras and thought I could do something with these. It's stupid, but here!"_

_She held out one of them to Ford, waiting for him to take it before tossing one of her remaining two onto Ford's desk. The students took off the plastic on the bottom and (Y/n) made her friend stick it onto his head before following suit._

_"I... I don't get it. What--"_

_"We're each other's presents!" The woman interrupted him, taking his hand in hers. Both of their faces heated up at the words and contact, and (Y/n) kept talking to avoid an awkward silence. "I-I know it's really cheesy, and Fiddleford got tired before I remembered to show you guys, but it's true! For me, at least. Being with you guys this Christmas is one of the best gifts I could've asked for, really. You two are my best friends! Even if my other friends weren't busy, I'm sure I'd find myself here, w-with you... guys."_

_The duo seemed to get even more flustered at the speech, and the woman was about to ramble on, but Ford silenced her before she could._

_At first, her eyes were wide and her body grew shock still. The brunette had absolutely no idea or experience whatsoever with how to kiss, so he just pressed his lips to hers and waited. After a few moments with no response, Stanford grew embarrassed and repulsed at his own actions and started to pull away._

_(Y/n) didn't let him._

_Instead, she grabbed the back of his head with the hand that wasn't grasping his and pulled the man closer. She paid no mind to his surprised squeak, only closed her eyes and moved her mouth against his. She was no stranger to certain signs of affection._

_When they broke apart for air, the woman took off the glasses that pressed uncomfortably against her face and leaned in again._

_At the second kiss, Ford peeked open one eye and looked above them, thanking Fiddleford for knowing the duo's habits. There, on the ceiling, was a single, hanging sprig of..._

\----

"... mistletoe!" Stanley laughed, pointing at the doorway.

(Y/n) blinked and looked up. The man wasn't lying; a swinging twig of the plant hung from the ceiling by some yarn and a badly-tied knot. The twins in front of her squealed up at the woman and kissed each other on the cheeks before running out from the threshold.

A red-faced Stanford stood in front of the woman, his eyes also on the mistletoe. They both looked at each other at the same time and blushed.

"Uh... just like old times, huh?" The female chuckled, ignoring the hats that fell off of her head when she looked up.

"Um..." Ford cleared his throat into his fist before bringing his hands behind his back. "I-Indeed."

"..."

"..."

"... Just kiss already!" Mabel yelled from the kitchen doorway, quickly ducking out of sight when Dipper shushed her, Stan's belly laugh coming from the television room.

The two adults looked at each other again, even more flushed than before. The woman tried to laugh it off, but only awkward laughter came out of her. Ford rubbed the back of his neck and steeled himself.

Eventually, he took a deep breath and took a step forward.

And another.

And another.

Mabel slowly creaked open the kitchen door with her foot, Polaroid camera at the ready with Waddles at her feet. Her twin brother peeked over her shoulder and Stan leaned out from the doorway of the TV room, camcorder in hand.

"Why, don't mind if I do!"

Fiddleford suddenly sprung into action, kissing Stanford square on the lips. Waddles screeched and ran to protect the nice lady from this startling hobo, tackling her legs and bringing her to the floor strategically.

"MMPH!" "Waddles!" "EEK!"

Ford softly slammed against the wall with a groan and McGucket somehow landed on his feet with his back to the taller man. (Y/n) laughed as Waddles stood on her chest, cushioned by the many layers she wore. The pig licked her face in pride and protectiveness.

"Welp. I'm selling that online. And then using the money to buy extra bleach for my eyeballs." Stan blanked, retreating to watch more Cash Wheel and get his mind off of this mess.

Mabel got multiple pictures of this catastrophe and didn't wait for them to develop before shoving the camera behind her and into Dipper's chest before running to the scene.

Fiddleford slapped his knee with a laugh and sprinted back into the basement with no regrets.

Ford slumped back and rubbed the back of his head--this time in pain. He looked up through crooked glasses to see a hand outstretched towards him. He gratefully took it and (Y/n) fixed his glasses with a smile. Her sleeve was damp with what could only be Waddles' spit and a smear of wetness was still on one of her cheeks, but the first thing that came to mind was--

"--beautiful..."

The woman blushed at the comment, as did Ford once he realized he'd said that aloud.

The duo grinned at each other, not really minding Mabel scolding Waddles behind (Y/n). All Ford noticed was the twinkle in her eyes, the snowflakes in her lashes, her rosy cheeks colored by... the weather? Affection? He may never know.

He did know that they never got to kiss under the mistletoe.

So with a puffed chest of pride and a brief moment of recklessness, Ford pecked the woman on the forehead. After getting past the initial shock, the woman giggled and kissed his cheek.

The kids "aww"ed, Stan "boo"ed, and Waddles "oink"ed at the mild displays of affection, but the couple's love for each other, whether they thought it was requited of otherwise, was the only approval needed.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy holidays, everyone! If you don't celebrate anything, then I wish you the best winter!
> 
> This was late, I know... it's already a quarter past six on Christmas Day here, whoops--
> 
> Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed this cute little... thingie!! I really wanted to put Stan in a Santa suit and call him "Stanta" but there was nowhere for it to go... sorry T^T
> 
> But still!! I'm proud!! (That ending was /mehh/ at best but like... I'm proud Ig lol)
> 
> \----
> 
> Hi! If you're here from Operation: Matchmaking, you may notice this is a chapter I deleted to make its own story. I've been kind of put off by the way I structured it, so from now on the extra chapters are going to be seperate fics.
> 
> Sorry if this is confusing, but it should help with the way I update chapters.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
